Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Products and general nail-crappiness

HI.
I want to talk about products. My body doesn't like them. I use an anti-acne product, and I break out more. I use cuticle oil, and my cuticles get worse. I use a strengthener and my nails get weaker. Does anyone else out there have this problem? I started my whole nail polish obsession with watching Plasmaspeedo on youtube. She rants and raves about the product hard as hoof. I can't use it. I tried it without polish, I tried it over polish, I tried it before polish, and it just makes my polish peel off in a sheet, and the times I have used it without polish, well lets face it I'm rarely without polish on. It's a problem. I use my tub to put around my cuticles when I water marble (more on those disasters another time). I recently decided "Hey Robyn, why don't you try to get your cuticles better so that you can blog properly?" so I bought some cuticle oil, lo and behold, my cuticles have never looked worse. Mind you, my job dries out my hands like no other. I'm dealing with cardboard all the time and it just sucks the moisture out of your hands. Today I have a peely crack right on the skin underneath my cuticle that is all red and puffy and inflamed. Ugh, it's awful.

Also, I recently decided to try square nails, I usually keep my nails more oval shaped, because that is the way they naturally grow. What happens the next day? Break off a part of the corner of my thumb, turning it back into oval shaped. HA.

My nails are horribly stained yellow. I tried using whitening toothpaste and also tried a vinegar and oil concoction I googled. But, when my nails peel (which they do frequently) the nail that is exposed is back to being normal. So it is just the top layer of nail, but it won't come off!

Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to fix these problems?!

2 comments:

How refreshing to find another person who's body doesn't respond 'normally' to products that seem to work for 'everybody'!

My suggestions:

Mary Kay Extra Emollient Night Cream for your dry skin. It's best to put it on right after a shower or washing your hands, but I use it any time on hands, elbows, feet, knees & even my face around my eyes when they start looking like crepe paper. It feels a bit greasy, but my dry skin sucks it up then looks & feels better, for awhile.

I too get that lovely yellow stain from polish & as you noted, its just the top layer that is discolored. So I just buff my nails to smooth the ridges before applying base coat & this also takes off a lot of the yellow. Buffing also smooths the edges of the peelie areas.

Peeling, ARRGH! I have a perminent fault line down my index finger. Sometimes its just a white line, sometimes it splits my nail in 2. I can't cut it cuz it just drives the line closer towards the cuticle. It also peels when it's split. I found that Orly Nail Repair works great for holding thast nail together as well as patching any peeling areas. It's a kit with cyanoacrylic nail glue with a brush plus acryllic powder like they use to build fake nails. A dab of glue, dip the nail into the powder, let dry, buff smooth. Nails look perfect under polish (no unsightly nail wrap lines) & are more durable. This does make your nails a little thicker than normal, but its not that obvious. Also, it does need to be reapplied every so often cuz acetone will remove it. It's worth it!

These methods are what has worked for me after much trial & error. Maybe 1 or more will work for you? HTH